WKU News

The WKU Forensics team won the national championship sweepstakes in individual events and debate and the founders trophy at the NFA National Championship April 17-21. Back row (from left): Christian Butterfield, Somtoo Nkurumeh, Oli Wood Morris, Danielle Williams, Josh St. Peter, Sage Carter, Finn Larson, Nik Schintgen, Chase Schockley, Jade Ismail; middle row (from left): Kole Ingram, Rae Fournier, Cecilia Alali, Jonah Johnson, Aquilla Dunn, Ameya Puranik; front row (from left): JaKayla Brown, Sydney Rettig, Kirsten Eversmann, Jay Roccaforte, Ryder Hebert, Sophie Todaro, Joie Willoughby, Elizabeth Allen, Fadé Akinbayo, Antonina Clementi

The WKU Forensics team won the national championship sweepstakes in individual events and debate and the founders trophy at the National Forensics Association National Championship April 17-21 hosted by Wayne State University in Detroit.

Sixty universities took part in the competition, which consisted of 11 individual events and Lincoln-Douglas debate.

WKU swept the top awards, taking both sweepstakes championships, Lincoln-Douglas debate, the debate top speaker award, four individual events national championships and the pentathlon award. 

In individual events, WKU brought 86 entries. Sixty-seven entries advanced to the Top 48 in their respective events.  Forty-three advanced to the Quarterfinals (top 24), 28 to semi-finals (top 12), and 18 to finals (top 6). That cumulative effort earned WKU the individual events sweepstakes championship. WKU finished ahead of Bradley University, Eastern Michigan University, George Mason University and the University of Illinois-Chicago.

In the debate competition, WKU entered 10 students. Nine advanced to single elimination rounds (Top 40), seven students advanced to the Top 16, four advanced to the Top 8, two advanced to the Final Four and one made the final debate. WKU placed first ahead of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Washburn University, Florida State University, and the University of Pittsburgh. 

Director of Debate Chad Meadows said: “It was incredibly rewarding to win the LD championship and sweepstakes title, something we haven’t done since 2021. This team gelled together the second semester and ended the year by winning four straight tournaments in convincing fashion. They’ll be remembered as one of the best WKU teams in recent memory.  I’m just proud to be along for the ride.”

WKU also won the Founder’s trophy, which goes to the team with the most cumulative points earned each year. When a team wins the award, their total goes back to zero. It’s a special honor because it recognizes not just a single year’s team, but a generation of alumni who helped build the point total for the award. WKU last won the founder’s trophy in 2021.

Director of Forensics Ganer Newman, IV said: “This year marks my tenth season directing the WKU Forensics Team, and this season made it clear to me that a great team, like a great community, is never the work of one person or even a few committed members. It is the work of everyone honoring each other, lifting each other, striving every day to make every moment an opportunity for everyone to flourish. This championship season is a living testament to that shared belief.

Our students, through their discipline, innovation, leadership, and gratitude, embodied the values we stand for and carried us to sweep national championships. 

I am profoundly grateful to President Timothy Caboni, our faculty, staff, and the entire WKU and Bowling Green community for embracing our mission and investing in our future through the new Hilltopper Fieldhouse, where generations of future forensics competitors will grow and lead.

I am in awe of our coaches who have shaped this program for a decade or more: Chadwick Meadows, Benjamin Robin, Seth Peckham, and Debra Gensheimer (who fittingly solely signed the beam at the Hilltopper Fieldhouse beam raising ceremony on our collective behalf while we were away at the tournament last week), as well as our extraordinary interpretation coach Sean Diaz and graduate assistants Tanya Prabhakar and Evan Grisham. Their mentorship, passion, and daily commitment to our students made this historic achievement possible.

This moment also belongs to the generations of alumni whose academic curiosity, artistry, and advocacy built the foundation we now stand on. We thrive because they believed it was possible too.

At WKU Forensics, greatness has never been about any one person. It has always been about all of us believing together. We are the living legacy of all who came before, and every day, we recommit to building it forward.”

The National Championship Team: Fade’ Akinbayo of Houston, Texas; Cecilia Alali of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Elizabeth Allen of Portland, Tennessee; JaKayla Brown of Kansas City, Kansas; Christian Butterfield of Bowling Green, Kentucky; Sage Carter of Salina, Kansas; Antonina Clementi of Lafayette, Louisiana; Aquilla Dunn of St. Paul, Minnesota; Kirsten Eversmann of Harrisburg, Illinois; Rae Fournier of Woodbridge, Virginia; Ryder Hebert of Madison, Mississippi; Kole Ingram of Hindman, Kentucky; Jade Ismail of Lafayette, Louisiana; Jonah Johnson of Burnsville, Minnesota; Finn Larson of Moorhead, Minnesota; Somtoo Nkurumeh of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Ameya Puranik of Mountain House, California; Sydney Rettig of Perrysburg, Ohio; Jay Roccaforte of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Josh St-Peter of Canton, Georgia; Nik Schintgen of Lansing, Kansas; Chase Shockley of Carthage, Missouri; Sophie Todaro of St. Paul, Minnesota; Danielle Williams of Goodlettsville, Tennessee; Joie Willoughby of Little Rock, Arkansas; Oli Wood-Morris of Chatham, Illinois.

The team is coached by: 

Director of Forensics: Ganer Newman

Director of Debate: Chad Meadows

Director of Individual Events: Benjamin Robin

Limited Prep and Public Address Coach: Seth Peckham

Interpretation Coach:  Sean Diaz

Graduate Assistant: Evan Grisham

Graduate Assistant: Tanya Prabhakar

National Champions:

Dramatic Interpretation: Cecilia Alali

Duo Interpretation: Cecilia Alali and Jade Ismail

Lincoln Douglas Debate: Rae Fournier

Lincoln Douglas Top Speaker: Rae Fournier

Prose Interpretation: Cecilia Alali

Rhetorical Criticism: Cecilia Alali

Results from NFA 2025 are as follows:

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Elimination Rounds

National Champion - Rae Fournier

Top 4 - Nik Schintgen

Top 8 - Antonina Clementi; JaKayla Brown.

Top 16 - Kole Ingram, Sage Carter, Chase Shockley

Top 32 - Josh St-Peter

Top 39 - Ameya Puranik

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker Awards

Top Speaker - Rae Fournier

2nd - Josh St-Peter

7th - Nik Schintgen

Pentathlon

Pentathlon National Champion: Cecilia Alali

2nd - Jade Ismail

7th - Christian Butterfield

14th - Jonah Johnson

15th - Finn Larson

Individual Events Finalists

After Dinner Speaking: Cecilia Alali, 2nd; Jade Ismail, 3rd.

Dramatic Interpretation: Cecilia Alai, National Champion; Jonah Johnson, 2nd; Jade Ismail, 3rd.

Duo Interpretation: Cecilia Alali, Jade Ismail, National Champion.

Extemporaneous Speaking: Christian Butterfield, 4th.

Impromptu Speaking: Christian Butterfield, 3rd.

Informative Speaking: Jade Ismail, 2nd; Fade’ Akinbayo, 6th.

Persuasive Speaking: Christian Butterfield, 4th.

Poetry Interpretation: Cecilia Alali, National Champion; Aquila Dunn, 6th.

Program Oral Interpretation:  Finn Larson, 4th.

Prose Interpretation: Jade Ismail, 5th; Cecilia Alali, 6th.

Rhetorical Criticism: Cecilia Alali, National Champion; Jade Ismail, 4th. 

Individual Events Semi-Finalists (Top 12)

After Dinner Speaking: Christian Butterfield; Fade’ Akinbayo

Dramatic Interpretation: Joie Willoughby

Impromptu Speaking: Kole Ingram

Informative Speaking: Nik Schintgen; Finn Larson

Poetry Interpretation:  Finn Larson; Somtoo Nkurumeh

Program Oral Interpretation:  Aquilla Dunn; Jay Roccaforte

Individual Events Quarter-Finalists (Top 24)

After Dinner Speaking: Jonah Johnson; Kirsten Eversmann; Sophie Todaro.

Duo Interpretation: Jonah Johnson and Aquilla Dunn

Extemporaneous Speaking:  Kole Ingram

Impromptu Speaking: Cecilia Alali

Informative Speaking: Christian Butterfield

Poetry Interpretation: Jay Roccaforte

Program Oral Interpretation: Elizabeth Allen

Prose Interpretation: Christian Butterfield, Joie Willoughby

Rhetorical Criticism: Fade’ Akinbayo; Sydney Rettig

Individual Events Octo-Finalists (Top 48)

Duo Interpretation: Jonah Johnson and Finn Larson; Sydney Rettig and Sophie Todaro; Sydney Rettig  and Joie Willoughby; Joie Willoughby and Elizabeth Allen.

Extemporaneous Speaking: Antonina Clementi

Dramatic Interpretation: Jay Roccaforte; Kirsten Eversmann; Somtoo Nkurumeh, Sophie Todaro

Informative Speaking: Ryder Herbert; Somtoo Nkurumeh; Sophie Todaro.

Persuasive Speaking: Elizabeth Allen

Poetry Interpretation: Danielle Williams

Program Oral Interpretation: Fade’ Akinbayo

Prose Interpretation: Jay Roccaforte; Kirstern Eversmann; Somtoo Nkurumeh; Sydney Rettig.

Rhetorical Criticism: Christian Butterfield, Nik Schintgen, Ryder Hebert, Sydney Rettig

More: Check out the WKU Forensics Facebook page or follow @wkuforensics and @DebateWku on X/Twitter.

Contact: Ganer Newman, (270) 745-6340.

-- WKU –

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.